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Author: Émile Zola

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Abbe Mouret's Transgression

Émile Zola

Abbe Mouret's Transgression, though little known, is one of the best novels by the father of naturalism.

Far from responding to the dictates of the usual normative label, which defines this literary movement as a mere and complacent exposition of human abjection, this novel explicitly recovers, even more than others, a joyful and fruitful affiliation of Zolian writing with the primordial naturalistic spirit of the 18th century. The result is a masterpiece in which this literary appellation acquires its full meaning.

The young Abbé Sergius Mouret lives in a remote parish with his sister Desirée. Humble and kind, he affirms that sinners should not despair and so he goes to meet their weaknesses to lead them to their salvation.

Doctor Pascal

Émile Zola

Doctor Pascalis the last work in Les Rougon-Macquart's series of 20 novels published in 1893. We have Pascal Rougon, a doctor from the fictional town of Plassans, who has devoted his life to studying the influence of heredity and environment on people, using his own family as a case study.

He believes that health and physical and mental development can be classified according to the interplay between innateness and heredity, and based on his theories about the latter, he chronicles his family's life by classifying the 30 descendants of his grandmother Adelaïde Fouque.

For him, the search for and discovery of truth lies in the science of heredity. He has also created a serum to cure hereditary diseases and improve life, whose niece Clotilde has encouraged him to destroy, considering that Pascal challenges the omnipotence of God.

Germinal

Émile Zola

Germinal(1885) is the thirteenth novel of the twenty volumes that Émile Zola wrote as part of the Les Rougon-Macquart series.

The novel is a harsh and realistic story about a miners' strike in northern France in the 1860s. It has been published and translated in more than 100 countries and has inspired five film adaptations, two television productions and a musical.

The story is set in France, in a village where life revolves around the coal mines, the place where most families earn their livelihood; every member of the families working there becomes practically a slave to the mine, earning poverty wages, wearing themselves out and running the risk of not going home every moment of the day.

His Masterpiece

Émile Zola

His Masterpiece, also known as The Masterpiece, is a novel that belongs to the Les Rougon-Macquart series. It was published as a novel in 1886 and in the magazine Gil Blas a year earlier. Its title refers to the struggle of the protagonist Claude Lantier to paint a great work that reflects his talent.

Lantier is a pioneering and innovative artist whose work is misunderstood by a public tied to traditional themes and techniques. Many of the characteristics Zola gives Lantier are a blend of several impressionist painters, such as Claude Monet, Édouard Manet and his friend Paul Cézanne.

The story paints a fairly accurate portrait of mid-19th century Parisian art, depicting the bohemian art world of the time. It also explores the rise of realism, naturalism and impressionism in painting, while analyzing other arts such as sculpture, literature, architecture and music.

L'assommoir

Émile Zola

L'assommoir,considered a resounding commercial success, is the seventh novel in the Les Rougon-Macquart series, published in 1877. It deals with the themes of alcoholism and poverty in the working-class neighborhoods of Paris. The story introduces us to Gervaise Macquart and her two children, abandoned by Lantier, who was her lover.

Later, Gervaise marries Coupeau, which gives rise to one of Zola's most famous passages. Happiness reigns around the couple, which increases with the birth of their daughter Anna. In addition, Gervaise manages to raise enough money to open her own laundry.

But, unfortunately, this happiness is ruined due to certain circumstances, one of which is that Coupeau falls off a roof injuring himself, and during his convalescence he indulges in drinking, which leads him to alcoholism. Although Gervaise tries to keep her household together, her husband has become abusive and good-for-nothing.